Muni funding fight

A top city transportation official is suggesting that some cash-strapped city departments are inappropriately charging Muni for services that were never rendered, possibly in an attempt to help balance budgets at the expense of the transit-riding public.

Tom Nolan, the chairman of the board that oversees the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, testified at a hearing called by Supervisor Bevan Dufty on Wednesday. At issue is the huge jump in reimbursements that the police, health and other city departments want from Muni — an agency that was granted a big funding increase by voters two years ago.

This news comes while the transit agency is being forced to consider cuts in service, higher fares and charging more for parking meters to close a $129 million funding gap.

For the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, Muni had planned to pay out almost $67 million to departments for such services as traffic enforcement, hospital care and calls to the 311 information center, which charges $1.96 for each Muni-related inquiry it handles. That’s 46 cents more than the basic bus fare.

Next year, the total payments are expected to reach nearly $79 million — about 10 percent of the transportation agency’s operating budget. In 2005, the tab was $35 million.

“I don’t have the confidence that (the money) is being spent directly for Muni,” Nolan said. He said he would like a thorough audit of the reimbursements, which are also known as work orders.

Representatives from the various city departments tapping into Muni coffers testified that the funds they’re going after are simply to recover Muni-related costs.